Does Israel Trade With the United Arab Emirates?

Israel’s gross goods exports totalled NIS 193.8 billion in 2021, the Central Bureau of Statistics reported in its country release of 20 January 2022, which names the United Arab Emirates among the countries accounting for the main rise in goods exports excluding diamonds that year. The same release names the Emirates again among the countries accounting for the main rise on the import side. It attaches no shekel or dollar value to trade with the Emirates in either direction. The one Israeli ministry publication in this record devoted to the Emirates, from October 2020, reports the size of the Emirati economy rather than any traded quantity.

Figure	What it counts	Who published it	Period
NIS 193.8 billion	Gross goods exports, all destinations	Central Bureau of Statistics	Calendar 2021
NIS 291.4 billion	Gross goods imports, all origins	Central Bureau of Statistics	Calendar 2021
NIS 97.6 billion	Gross goods trade deficit, exports less imports	Central Bureau of Statistics	Calendar 2021
6 countries, the Emirates among them	Countries accounting for the main rise in goods exports excluding diamonds	Central Bureau of Statistics	2021 against 2020
7 countries, the Emirates among them	Countries accounting for the main rise in goods imports	Central Bureau of Statistics	2021 against 2020
$405.8 billion	Nominal Emirati GDP, compiled by the ministry from Emirati and international data	Ministry of Economy and Industry	2019
$387 billion	Nominal Israeli GDP, given in the same document as a comparator	Ministry of Economy and Industry	2019

The Bureau names the United Arab Emirates in its 2021 trade release

The Central Bureau of Statistics published a country breakdown of Israel’s goods trade for calendar 2021 on 20 January 2022, and the Emirates appears in it on both sides. On the export side the Bureau lists it among the countries accounting for the main rise, measured excluding diamonds, in 2021 against 2020. On the import side the Bureau lists it again, in a separate list of countries accounting for the main rise.

Side of the trade	Countries the Bureau names as accounting for the main rise
Goods exports, excluding diamonds	Ireland, the United Arab Emirates, El Salvador, Gabon, Morocco, the Congo
Goods imports	Zambia, Honduras, Panama, the United Arab Emirates, Cuba, Kenya, Armenia

Source: Central Bureau of Statistics, media release 028/2022, for 2021 against 2020.

The Bureau names the country but publishes no bilateral value

The country lists above are the whole of what the Central Bureau of Statistics published about the Emirates in that release. The Bureau attached no export value, no import value and no bilateral total to the Emirates, in shekels or in dollars, and 2021 is the latest year for which any Israeli trade series in this record names the country at all. What the release supports is that the Emirates was one of the countries behind the largest year-on-year movements, not how large the trade was.

Goods exports totalled NIS 193.8 billion in 2021

The naming sits inside a national series, and the Central Bureau of Statistics published that series in the same release. Gross goods exports rose by NIS 21.5 billion, which the Bureau puts at 12.5% against 2020, and gross goods imports rose by NIS 53.5 billion, which it puts at 22.5%. The figures are gross and cover goods; services are a separate Bureau series.

The Ministry of Economy put Emirati GDP at $405.8 billion

The Ministry of Economy and Industry, through its Foreign Trade Administration, published a 49-page Hebrew assessment of the economic opportunity with the Emirates in October 2020. Its figures on the Emirates are Emirati and international data that the ministry compiled, not Israeli official statistics, and the ministry states them as an assessment of potential.

Figure	What it counts	Period
$405.8 billion	Nominal Emirati GDP	2019
$387 billion	Nominal Israeli GDP, the document’s comparator	2019
About 9.8 million	Emirati population, ranked 91st in the world	2019
About 85%	Share of that population who are migrants	2019
About $121.5 billion	Emirati oil exports, about 31.3% of Emirati exports to the world	2018

Source: Ministry of Economy and Industry, Foreign Trade Administration, October 2020, compiling Emirati and international data.

The 2020 Ministry document assesses potential, not recorded trade

The Ministry of Economy and Industry published that document in October 2020, the month after normalisation, and it reports the Emirati economy’s size, population and oil exports. It carries no count of goods traded between Israel and the Emirates, in either direction, and its register throughout is prospective. The Central Bureau of Statistics remains the only Israeli body with a trade series in this record that names the Emirates, and that series stops at 2021: the Bureau’s release of Israel’s goods trade for January to November 2025 reports by region, with China and the United States as the only countries broken out. Neither document quantifies trade under the comprehensive economic partnership agreement.

Which figures here may not be added together?

The Bureau’s country lists rank movement, not size: the Emirates appears because it was among the countries behind the largest increases, and the list is not a ranking of Israel’s largest partners. The export list is measured excluding diamonds and the import list is not.

All Bureau figures above are gross and cover goods only, so the NIS 97.6 billion is a gross goods deficit rather than Israel’s trade balance. The Ministry of Economy and Industry’s dollar figures describe the Emirati economy and were compiled by the ministry; do not divide the oil export figure by its 31.3% share to produce an Emirati export total, because the document prints no such total.

Questions readers ask

Does Israel trade with the United Arab Emirates?

The Central Bureau of Statistics named the United Arab Emirates in its country breakdown of Israel’s goods trade for 2021, on both the export and the import side.

How much do the two countries trade?

The Central Bureau of Statistics published no bilateral value for the Emirates in that release, and no other Israeli trade series in this record gives one.

Which release names the Emirates?

The Central Bureau of Statistics published media release 028/2022 on 20 January 2022, covering Israel’s foreign trade in goods by country for calendar 2021.

What were Israel’s total goods exports that year?

The Central Bureau of Statistics reported gross goods exports of NIS 193.8 billion in 2021, up NIS 21.5 billion or 12.5% on 2020.

What were total goods imports?

The Central Bureau of Statistics reported gross goods imports of NIS 291.4 billion in 2021, up NIS 53.5 billion or 22.5% on 2020.

Is that a trade deficit?

The Central Bureau of Statistics recorded a gross goods trade deficit of NIS 97.6 billion for 2021. It covers goods; the Bureau reports services separately.

Which other countries were named alongside the Emirates?

On exports excluding diamonds the Central Bureau of Statistics named Ireland, El Salvador, Gabon, Morocco and the Congo. On imports it named Zambia, Honduras, Panama, Cuba, Kenya and Armenia.

Does any Israeli ministry publish on the Emirates?

The Ministry of Economy and Industry published a 49-page assessment of the economic potential with the Emirates in October 2020, through its Foreign Trade Administration.

What figures does that ministry document give?

The Ministry of Economy and Industry put nominal Emirati GDP at $405.8 billion in 2019 against $387 billion in Israel, with the Emirati population at about 9.8 million.

Does it say how much the two countries trade?

The Ministry of Economy and Industry published no count of goods traded between Israel and the Emirates in that document, which assesses potential and reports Emirati economic data the ministry compiled.

Is there a figure for trade under the 2022 trade agreement?

Neither the Central Bureau of Statistics release banked here nor the Ministry of Economy and Industry document quantifies trade with the Emirates after 2021.

What is the most recent Israeli trade release here?

The Central Bureau of Statistics published Israel’s foreign trade in goods by country for January to November 2025, reporting by region, with China and the United States as the only countries broken out.

Sources

• Central Bureau of Statistics, 2022. Israel’s Foreign Trade in Goods by Country, 2021. Media release 028/2022, 20 January 2022. cbs.gov.il. Official or primary record.
• Central Bureau of Statistics, 2025. Israel’s Foreign Trade in Goods, by Country, November 2025. Media release 409/2025. cbs.gov.il. Official or primary record.
• Ministry of Economy and Industry, Foreign Trade Administration, 2020. The Economic Potential with the United Arab Emirates. October 2020, 49 pages. Official or primary record.